Healing Heartbreak Ryou's Way
by ravengal
Summary: Masaya's fallen in love. It crushes him, but he needs to break up with Ichigo. She doesn't take it very well. When she bumps into Ryou later, he decides its up to him to help her get over it... in his own Ryou-like way, of course. RyouxIchigo, others
1. Small Forest, Fragrant Springtime

**WARNING! WARNING!** This first chapter contains major spoilers. You may not want to read it if you've not seen all 52 episodes. **WARNING! WARNING! **

Author's note: Well, hi! Now that I've got the warning out of the way, I'll provide you with a little info. For ages now, I've had an obsession with this show, so I decided, now that I've watched all the episodes, to write my first fic on it (anime only, not manga). I hope you like it. ^^ It'll be set in Japan, so the schooling system and whatnot will be Japanese-related, okay? Oh and also, Kobayashi Haruka is my OC (original character). 'Kobayashi' means 'small forest' and 'Haruka' means 'fragrant springtime', so that's what's up with the chapter title. Lol.

Finally, I don't hate Aoyama Masaya, so I refuse to bash him. I decided, instead, to give his character some depth. Maybe this'll help raise people's appreciation of him... hopefully. I mean, he's a really nice guy. I'll admit, he's a bit _too_ nice, but he's still nice... and I seriously doubt that he's hiding an inner evil somewhere underneath all the niceness. XD

**Chapter One: Small Forest, Fragrant Springtime**

It had been three long years since Tokyo Mew Mew, a team of five superhero girls infused with the DNA of Red Data animals, had destroyed Deep Blue, the leader of the alien invasion at that time... and, although, to the untrained eye, everything appeared to be fairly normal, a lot had changed.

Aoyama Masaya, now sixteen years old and attending his second year of Toronokokoro High School, reclined against the headboard of his bed. Clad in his blue pyjamas, he closed his eyes and thought about the people who were closest to both him and his girlfriend, Momomiya Ichigo, the Iriomote Wildcat Mew Mew, while the light breeze from the open window toyed with his dark blue hair. It had been a year now since the reforming of Tokyo Mew Mew _after_ Deep Blue's defeat, where Ichigo's team had had to spend another year - since defeating the aliens had taken a whole year as well - fighting some new enemy. Throughout that year, he'd felt rather sad... because, ever since Deep Blue's end, he no longer had powers of his own to fight alongside them with, so he'd had to sit on the sidelines while his girlfriend and her team-mates went off to fight without him.

Once they'd defeated that enemy, however - Ichigo at that point being fourteen - nothing new had happened, so Cafe Mew Mew had been closed down and everyone had been allowed to go their separate ways and live their separate lives. Ichigo still kept in contact with everyone, though... and, thanks to her keeping him informed, _he_ was up-to-date on their goings on himself.

Shirogane Ryou, the leader of the Mew Project and now nineteen, had, at one stage, dated Midorikawa Retasu, the Finless Porpoise Mew Mew - back when he was seventeen and she was fifteen - as she'd had a rather large crush on him at the time, so he'd thought that he'd give her a chance... but that relationship had suffered mysterious problems which neither wanted to speak about and that had eventually led to their break-up. Some months later, he'd started dating Fujiwara Zakuro, the Gray Wolf Mew Mew - when she'd just turned seventeen and he was still seventeen, not yet eighteen - as the two of them shared the same ideas and thought patterns, so he'd assumed that they'd make a good match for one another... but their relationship had also suffered in ways mysterious to others and that had led to yet another break-up. Ever since, he'd just been going from one girlfriend to the next, never sticking with one for very long, and the world had yet to understand it.

As for the three aliens that had, four years ago, arrived on Earth in an attempt to destroy humankind and take back possession of what was originally their planet, they were often peacefully coming and going, visiting the Mew Mews like old friends. Kisshu, he was glad to know, was no longer obsessed with Ichigo, as he had his own girlfriend back on his own rejuvenated planet called Sushi - the planet only being rejuvenated thanks to the power of the Mew Aqua that he'd taken back with him three years ago - and they appeared to be fairly happy with one another. Ichigo tended to refer to Sushi as a live wire with a love for parties, but who got rather temperamental if you messed with either her or her boyfriend. She had bright pink hair and silver eyes, the pink hair probably being what attracted Kisshu to her in the first place, and was, as Ichigo often told him, not exactly drop-dead gorgeous, but reasonably pretty.

Pai had comforted Retasu when Ryou had broken up with her, since, as they shared the same views on people from different planets caring just as much about their loved ones as each other, he'd found a friend in her. Afterwards, they'd continually spent time together before eventually dating, thereby settling into a strange human/alien relationship where he'd teleport back and forth between the planets to visit her. They were still dating now, Retasu now being seventeen.

Taruto, much like Pai was doing with Retasu, was visiting Earth on a regular basis to visit Fon Purin, the Golden Lion Tamarin Mew Mew, who was now fourteen. The two young teenagers had developed a very strong bond and Ichigo had often told him not only how obvious it was that the two had huge crushes on one another, but how much Purin's four younger brothers, Hanacha, Chincha, Lucha and Honcha and her one younger sister, Heicha, absolutely adored playing with him whenever he came round for dinner, which created yet another strange human/alien relationship. However, Taruto apparently had yet to get on with Purin's fiancé in her arranged marriage, Ron Yuebin. For reasons the alien wouldn't admit, he hated the man's guts, glaring at him and making snide comments whenever he came to visit.

Zakuro had spent her time with Aizawa Minto, the Blue Lorikeet Mew Mew, once Ryou had broken up with her - Minto being fifteen at the time - and, as anyone could easily imagine, Minto had been simply thrilled to be spending time alone, usually out shopping, with her number one idol that some believed she admired a little _too_ much. Much to everyone's surprise, the two eventually declared that they had actually decided to start dating. No one was sure how to take this shocking news at first, but everyone gradually grew to accept it. They were still dating now - Zakuro now being eighteen and Minto now being sixteen - but in moderation, of course, just so that the paparazzi wouldn't get wind of Zakuro's yuri relationship and ruin her reputation. It would also be bad for Minto in a way, as she was rich and very well-known herself, so the two of them always made sure to keep it low-key.

Akasaka Keiichirou, Ryou's guardian and best friend - now twenty-five - had, according to Ichigo, been going about his daily business whilst all of these relationships were happening and had accidentally happened across his ex-girlfriend, Nishina Rei, the woman who worked with butterflies. Surprised, yet happy to see one another, they had spent time together and caught up on old times. It is said that Keiichirou had mentioned to her how the work that had broken them apart so many years ago _now_ seemed to be finished and, strange as it was, they'd began dating again and their relationship had taken off from there.

"Masaya-kun!" a female voice called out.

Surprised at the sound of his name, Masaya looked out the window to see the girl next door, Kobayashi Haruka, who was clad in purple pyjamas - the pants being the length of shorts and the sleeves only reaching half-way to her elbows - standing at her open window, smiling and waving at him... and he watched as her long brown hair blew around her face in the breeze and her green eyes twinkled in the moonlight.

Smiling, he waved back. "Hey, Haruka-chan!" he called out.

Haruka giggled. "You okay? You looked deep in thought there."

Masaya chuckled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Haruka shrugged. "Well, okay..." She then threw him a teasing look. "Pardon me for breathing, Masaya-kun."

Masaya laughed; that was just like Haruka to come out with a comment like that. "Hey, are you heading off to bed yet?"

Haruka puffed out her cheeks, but her laughing eyes clearly told him that she was only _pretending_ to be angry with him. "Well, if you wanna be like _that_..."

Masaya shook his head, completely unable to wipe the smile from his face. "No, no... I'm just not tired yet is all."

Haruka's face lit up tremendously, as though she'd just won the Nobel prize... and he knew that that was an act too. "Oh! I see!" She clasped her hands together. "You want to spend your night _talking_ with me!" She pretended to swoon, the back of one hand hitting her forehead dramatically. "Oh, Masaya-kun, I can't believe that you want to spend your time with _me_, of all people! I think I'm going to die!"

Masaya laughed; again, that was typical Haruka, throwing jokes and mickey-takes around with as much ease as throwing flower petals around at a wedding. He smiled warmly at her and watched as she beamed back at him.

"Well, how about it? Wanna hang around and talk for a while? I'm really not sleepy."

Haruka grinned at him. "Sure! I've just gotta finish getting ready for bed first... then we can talk." She gave a slight wave of the hand before walking away. "See you in a minute!"

"Kay!"

Masaya sighed gently and closed his eyes; he'd only met Haruka when she'd moved in next door to him a year ago, but the girl meant so much to him... he couldn't even begin to describe how much... Various memories that he shared with her then began to flash through his mind, as though he were flipping through a slide show.

* * *

_Noticing a moving van outside, Masaya walked down the stairs and out the door to investigate._

_A girl with long brown hair and green eyes that he didn't recognise spotted him and smiled. "Hi there!" she said._

"_Hi," he replied pleasantly._

"_Nice to meet you. I'm your new next door neighbour. My name's Kobayashi Haruka."_

"_Nice to meet you too. I'm Aoyama Masaya."_

_The two smiled at one another and shook hands._

* * *

_After a while of talking on Masaya's couch, a silence fell between him and Haruka. Then, suddenly, Haruka frowned, putting her face really close to his and throwing him an annoyed look._

_Masaya blinked at her. "What is it, Kobayashi-san?" he asked._

_Haruka narrowed her eyes at him. "After all this time of knowing you," she replied darkly, "I've come to one conclusion... you're too perfect, Aoyama-kun."_

_Masaya's eyes widened in shock at this declaration; no one had ever called him 'too perfect' before. "H-Huh?"_

_Haruka huffed and pulled her face away from his. "I mean, you're just... so perfect that you're like the Prince Charming of any little kids' fairy tale."_

_Feeling slightly uncomfortable about this statement, Masaya looked away. "Aheh..."_

_Haruka glared at him. "You're unnatural, being so perfect." She threw her face towards his again. "Are you trying to prove something? If so, just __**what**__ are you trying to prove?"_

_Masaya was taken aback. "I..."_

"_That you can be any girl's dream?" She sighed, pulling her face away from his. She then turned a sad expression towards him. "I'm sorry... I just... can't stand perfection... It just looks so... false." She then widened her eyes. "Oh, but I like __**you**__, though... you're a nice guy... but I just wish you'd cut out the perfect act."_

_Masaya dipped his head, his bangs covering his eyes; maybe he'd have to tell her... he'd lose her as friend otherwise... so he proceeded to explain about how he was adopted at a young age and was raised to always meet his new parents' expectations, which were fairly strict. It was a case of 'be perfect to survive', as he knew that they wouldn't have liked him half as much if he'd rebelled against them._

_Haruka looked at him, sorrow written all over her face. "Aoyama-kun..."_

_Masaya forced a smile, as he always did, no matter what his emotions were. "It's okay, Kobayashi-san... don't worry about it."_

_Haruka shook her head, smiling sadly. "No, it's not..." She then attempted a brighter smile. "Hey, tell you what... how about we make a deal?"_

_Masaya raised both his eyebrows in interest. "Hmm?"_

"_If you promise to come to me about your problems... ranting, crying on my shoulder, any kind of emotional release, then..." She paused for thought, placing a finger to her chin and looking at the ceiling, then she smirked at him. "I'll start calling you 'Masaya-kun'!"_

_Masaya couldn't help the very slight tint that appeared on his cheeks; she wanted to call him 'Masaya-kun' already? But she'd only known him for a month! His own girlfriend hadn't called him 'Masaya-kun' until two years after they'd started dating! He paused for thought; that was __**also**__ about the time that he'd started calling her 'Ichigo-chan'..._

"_Um... okay." He paused, then smiled brightly. "So, then... can I call you 'Haruka-chan'?"_

_Her expression told him that she was slightly taken aback, but then she smiled in return. "Sure, okay."_

* * *

_Masaya let out a growl of frustration, burying his face in his hands. _

"_There," Haruka said in a cheerful tone, "now doesn't that make you feel a whole lot better?"_

_Masaya slowly pulled his hands away from his face, smiling. "Yeah, actually..." he replied, "it does."_

_Haruka beamed. "Great! Now, please, do continue!"_

_Masaya sighed. "Okay... so, yeah, my parents were being so hard on me yesterday. I was so tired from lack of sleep... and wanted so much to just go for a lie down... but they were being so stubborn about it... They were saying things like, 'If you don't start your homework as soon as you get it, how can you expect to get the best possible grades?' and 'You can't be tired now, you need to go and practice your kendo with your father in the gym! How can you be perfect at it if you're too tired to practice?' It was just stressing me out __**so**__ much! Why do they push me so hard? Can't they see that I... I... can't manage everything they give me to do? I just..." He suddenly felt his eyes cloud over with tears. "I also can't stand how, while they're pushing me and __**pushing**__ me to be my best __**all**__ the time... because they just __**can't**__ accept me being anything other than perfect... they're constantly arguing with each other... shouting, screaming... neither one wanting to back down and let the other win..."_

"_Masaya-kun..." Haruka's voice sounded really upset. "Do you really hide __**this**__ many emotions from the world?"_

_Masaya nodded, staring at the floor. "Mmm-hmm..."_

"_That's awful... so many bottled-up emotions that you just refuse to show to the world..." She paused for a moment. "Does it hurt? Holding in so many emotions and forcing a smile for people?"_

"_S-Sometimes it does..."_

"_Oh... Masaya-kun..." _

_He suddenly heard a shuffling before two arms wrapped themselves around him and pulled him into a warm embrace. Comforted by the protection he felt... contented by the security blanket the hug felt like it was providing... he cried softly into her shoulder._

_Haruka snuggled him closer. "There, there, Masaya-kun... it's okay... let it all out..." She paused. "And, when you're done, I'll return the favour by crying into __**your**__ shoulder. My life's stressful too... and I need to vent just as much."_

_Masaya managed to choke out a laugh as he continued to cry._

* * *

"_M... Masaya-kun?" Haruka asked while the two of them sat together on Masaya's bed._

"_Yeah, Haruka-chan?" Masaya replied._

_There was a short silence, then Haruka shook her head. "Oh, never mind... it's nothing."_

"_... Okay."_

_Another silence followed, then Haruka looked over at Masaya and grinned. "Hey, Masaya-kun... your hair's a little... out-of-place."_

"_Huh? Really?" Masaya reached up and brushed down his hair with his hand. "Is it okay __**now**__?"_

_Haruka giggled at him. "No. Here, let __**me**__ do it." She shuffled over to him... very closely, Masaya couldn't help but notice... and ran her hand through his hair, straightening it out for him. He felt his heart pounding harder and harder against his ribcage at how close she was, causing his back to straighten and his face to burn... and, when she moved her face really close to his and beamed at him, it was more than he could take. "There we go! All nice and neat!" She paused to see him staring at her and he inwardly cursed himself for that. "Hmm? What's wrong? Masaya-kun?"_

_Unable to say anything, he felt his face moving of its own accord, straight towards hers, fuelled by his one and only desire at that moment. He watched with delight as she, face burning as bright as his own, mimicked him, closing her eyes and moving closer, before he closed his own eyes. Once their lips connected, he felt a surge run through him that was far more powerful than anything he'd ever felt kissing Ichigo._

_Once they broke apart, she gave him a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Masaya-kun. I know it's hardly appropriate... what with your girlfriend that you love so much and all... but I... I..." She paused for a moment, apparently gathering her courage. "I love you..." She bowed her head. "I __**have**__ done for many months now..."_

_Masaya's breath caught in his throat; Oh, my God, she loved him... she really loved him... He suddenly became overwhelmed, so many emotions slamming into him at the same time; he was overjoyed, as he knew that he felt the exact same way about __**her**__... but he also felt sad and guilty as he thought about Ichigo, his girlfriend of four years, and what her reaction would be if he told her... not to mention confusion about what the hell was going to happen __**now**__... Was there a chance that he and Haruka could have a future together?_

"_I... I..." He gave her a sad smile. "I know I shouldn't... I know I __**really**__ shouldn't... but I love you too, Haruka-chan..."_

* * *

Masaya looked up at the ceiling of his bedroom with another sigh; he knew that he loved Haruka more than Ichigo... that much was obvious to him... and he knew how much that would upset Ichigo once she found out... but only now that he'd experienced _real_ love... _true_ love... could he honestly recognise that the love he'd always had for Ichigo was no more than _young_ love.

The more he thought about the matter, the more it made sense to him; their relationship had never been very serious... and, even though Ichigo's father, Momomiya Shintaro, had often glared at him, convinced that he'd slept with Ichigo many times over, the truth was that they'd never done that even once. Ichigo had always said to her father that she wasn't ever planning on losing her virginity until she was at least sixteen... but their relationship had never reached an intimate enough level for that to have even been thought about anyway.

He gave the ceiling a sad look; he'd always thought that he'd been born to protect Ichigo... but, after putting a lot of thought into the matter, he'd realised that the whole thing held a much bigger picture than that. He'd been born as Deep Blue, leader of the aliens that had once lived on Planet Earth millions of years ago... before a worldly explosion had made them evacuate... but separating into three separate beings had allowed him to help protect Planet Earth, the planet that he as Deep Blue had wanted to destroy.

He thought about the Mew Aqua that, once upon a time, had been concealed in his body; Mew Aqua and Mew Mews share a very strong connection... and he suspected that that connection was strengthened far more than it should have been with their small crushes on each other. She'd had a crush on him, because, like every other girl in the school, she'd liked the perfect popular boy... and _he'd_ had a crush on _her_ because she was cute. This meant that the Mew Aqua-Mew Mew connection had made their feelings for each other stronger, which, in turn, had eventually caused the protection of the Earth from certain destruction. This certainly explained why he didn't love any of the _other_ Mew Mews... his love for Ichigo was only created through the original two-way crush... which he _didn't_ have with any of the other Mew Mews. That could be why, out of all the girls in the school, she was the only one who actually plucked up the courage to ask him out... and why he was so quick to say 'yes'.

He then thought about the side of him that had been the Blue Knight... and how the love he'd had for her, created by his Mew Aqua's bond with her Red Data animal DNA, had made him transform into that side of him whenever he'd heard her voice calling out to him. In actual fact, he now realised that the Blue Knight had been created to protect all _five_ Mew Mews... it was just that the only one he'd loved was Ichigo, so _her_ voice was the only one he'd ever heard in his head. That had stopped once he'd lost his powers, however.

Once both the Deep Blue _and_ Blue Knight sides of him had been vanquished, it was just a normal relationship... though he'd been so infatuated with her at the time that he still hadn't seen it as just young love. He'd often pictured himself in the future, married to Ichigo with children... although it was the _creation_ of the children that he could never picture. It took him until he fell in love with Haruka to realise why.

He cast his sad expression downwards; in truth, he now knew, Ichigo had fallen in love with his perfection - him falling in love with her cute, adorably klutzy and childish nature - whilst Haruka had fallen in love with his _im_perfection. She loved him for who he _truly_ was, beneath all the fake smiles and the perfect attitude towards everything in general... and that's what he loved so much about Haruka... her love felt real. She'd seen the real him, the him usually hidden deep beneath the surface... because she'd refused to keep looking at the mask of perfection... and had fallen in love with that side of him. He could never discuss the issues he told her with Ichigo; Ichigo saw him as a figure of perfection... and, besides, it would upset her to see him so weak and vulnerable... and he absolutely hated seeing her upset. He always found it heart-breaking to see that bright, cheerful, bubbly smile wiped from her face... and he never wanted to be the person to make that happen.

He frowned, feeling something tugging at his heartstrings; it was unfortunate that, if he wanted to be with Haruka, that was the way it was going to have to be...

"Masaya-kun!" he heard Haruka shout.

He turned to see her smiling brightly at him and couldn't help but smile brightly himself. "Hey, Haruka-chan!" God, he loved that girl... more than anyone could possibly imagine.

"I'm all done getting ready for bed now." She paused before smirking and flicking her hair. "_So_... wanna talk now?"

Masaya nodded. "Yep."

He was going to tell Ichigo tomorrow morning. It would break her heart... he knew that... it would break her heart, rip it out of her chest and trample all over it... but... he was madly in love with Haruka... and _she_ was madly in love with _him_... so he had to do it... Besides, maybe... maybe this could teach Ichigo the same thing he himself had learned when he fell in love with Haruka... that the love _they_ shared was only ever _young_ love... and had never stood much chance of being serious anyway... Maybe she herself would fall madly in love with someone... the kind of love where you could see yourself sleeping with that person, marrying them and having their children... and, hopefully, still be friends with him after it was all over... He didn't want to break her heart so badly that she'd never want to speak to him again...


	2. Gomenasai, Neko chan

Author's note: Okay! Well, here is the chapter that really gets the story rolling! The last one was more of a back-story to show Masaya's newfound love for Haruka... the OC that I might have made a little too perfect. (sweat-drops) I tried not to, I swear!

Also, I realise that the Mew Mews attacks differ between anime and manga, but, after much thought... and a very confused brain... I decided to go with the anime version, but I altered it very slightly to make it sound more Japanese, kay?

Finally, this chapter's title means 'I'm sorry, cat-chan', which I think sounds appropriate for what's going to happen.

**Chapter Two: Gomenasai, Neko-chan**

_The largest and most dangerous-looking Chimera Anima that anyone had ever seen - a thirty-foot, green fire-breathing dragon with burning red eyes - stood before all five Mew Mews, growling and baring its teeth, smoke billowing from its nostrils. The Mew Mews, already transformed, prepared to attack._

_Mew Minto, the light blue and dark blue Mew Mew, stepped up, holding her Minto Arrow. "Ribbon..." she said, pulling back her bow and arrow, "Minto Echo!" She let the arrow fly and it struck the dragon, which grunted loudly in pain._

_The dragon then reared its head, roared and shot fire from its mouth straight at the Mew Mews. Yelping, they all jumped out the way, rolling back into fighting stances._

_Next to step up was Mew Retasu, the darkish green, light green and white Mew Mew, who held up her Retasu-tanets. "Ribbon..." she said, powering up her water attack, "Retasu Rush!"_

_The water slammed into the dragon, causing it to yelp in pain, actually rearing back a couple of steps. It then roared again before gathering up a huge fireball in its mouth and sending an even bigger flamethrower attack careening towards them. The five Mew Mews only just dodged out the way in time._

_Then Mew Zakuro, the purple, brown and white Mew Mew, jumped into action, powering up her Zacross Whip. "Ribbon..." she said, holding her weapon in the air, "Zakuro Spear!" She swung it hard._

_The whip slashed across the dragon, which screamed in agony and fell over, writhing on the ground as though it had been tortured._

_Mew Purin, the yellow and orange Mew Mew, then somersaulted into position, giggling and pulling apart her tambourine to reveal her Purin Ring. "Ribbon..." she said, back-flipping for dramatic effect, "Purin Ring..." She slammed her weapon into the ground for extra dramatic effect. "Inferno!"_

_The bright yellow light created by her attack shot towards the dragon and, when it hit, it engulfed the Chimera Anima in a giant yellow flan._

_Finally, it was the turn of Mew Ichigo, the light pink, dark pink and black Mew Mew, who attached her Mewberry Rod to her Strawberry Bell before powering up her weapon for the finishing move. "Ribbon Strawberry Surprise!" she called out, blasting the dragon with a powerful light._

_It screamed before dissolving into a mass of particles and appearing as a parasite-alien - which was a jellyfish-like alien parasite - and a lizard. Then Masha, the heart-shaped fluff ball robot with wings that was three different shades of pink, flew down and gobbled up the parasite-alien, saying, "Retrieve! Retrieve!" with a happy expression on its face._

* * *

Suddenly, a beeping noise sounded, startling sixteen-year-old Momomiya Ichigo out of her sleep. She then glanced over at her alarm clock and saw, much to her chagrin, that it was time to get up for school. She groaned as she turned it off, severely tempted to snuggle back under the covers, then she remembered her dream. She sighed; in all honesty, she really missed being a Mew Mew. She missed pulling out her power pendant... she missed calling out "Mew Mew Strawberry! Metamorpho-sis!"... she missed being scantily-clad in her revealing pink Mew Mew dress... she missed having the ears and tail of a cat... she missed saying her motto, "For the future of the Earth, I will be of service, nya!", before a big battle... she missed fighting Chimera Anima... and she, surprisingly, missed working at Cafe Mew Mew. That was why she was constantly having dreams of such things... they were the good old days. Climbing out of bed, she left her bedroom, headed into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

After she'd used the toilet, washed her hands, cleansed her face, dried her hands and face on the nearest towel, brushed her teeth and had a drink of water, she opened the bathroom door and headed back to her bedroom. Once closing the door, she changed out of her pink pyjamas, replaced her white underwear with a fresh pair - throwing the old pair into the laundry basket that her mother had placed in her room some time ago, so as to keep her room tidy - pulled on a white bra, grabbed a pair of white ankle socks and, with slight difficulty, pulled them onto her feet, then opened her closet and looked at her school uniforms, which were hanging on a hook.

She smiled; she was now in Toranokokoro High School, so her uniform was much different than the one she used to wear in junior high... and she really liked its new style. Instead of Daiken Junior High's grey uniform with a poufy skirt and a red bow hanging from the collar, this style was exactly like the uniform in one of her favourite animes: Fruits Basket. The winter uniform, which was the one she was going to wear, since it was currently May, consisted of a blue shirt - which was lined with white around the bottom, had long sleeves and three white lines across each cuff, a white collar with two blue lines going across it on either side, a white undershirt attached to the inside with two blues lines going across it and a white scarf hanging from the collar with two blues lines going across the bottom of it - and a blue skirt... and the whole uniform hugged her frame quite nicely. Not only that, but the skirt only reached about a third of the way to her knees. She enjoyed this fact, because it allowed her to dress as attractively as possible for her beloved Masaya every day.

Taking it off its hook, she proceeded to put it on, humming as she did so. She really did look good in this uniform, she had to say; it really brought out her dark red hair and reddish-brown eyes. She turned around and quickly checked in the mirror that everything was in order, turning left, turning right and brushing away imaginary dust.

Sighing happily, she grabbed her brush and slid it through her hair, which, one couldn't help but notice, was considerably longer than it had been three years ago; it now went past her shoulders and touched her shoulder blades... although her fringe looked exactly the same as it had always done, simply because she liked it like that. She continued her humming as she brushed away, thinking of all the times that Masaya had complimented her, both for how she looked in her uniform _and_ how nice her hair looked at its current length.

Finally content with the smoothness of her hair, she put her brush back down and pulled open her top draw, which was full of different-coloured ribbons suited for different outfits. Grabbing the blue ribbon that perfectly matched her uniform, she pulled it out before closing the drawer again. She then proceeded to tie her hair up with the ribbon into the single high ponytail that she now wore it in.

Once she was done, she looked herself over, giving her hair a smoothing down with her hand, and grinned; she looked perfect. Walking to her bedroom door, she opened it and walked downstairs for breakfast, which her nostrils told her, to her delight, was her favourite, pancakes with maple syrup. She smiled again; today was going to be a great day.

* * *

As Ichigo neared the school, clip-up leather briefcase in hand, she spotted her boyfriend standing outside, holding his own briefcase and wearing his own gorgeous Fruits Basket-style school uniform: a black shirt - which had long sleeves and was lined with white around the bottom, the collar and the cuffs - black pants and a white tie. Grinning, she sped up until she reached a running pace, excitement and happiness pumping through her veins. She couldn't help it; whenever she caught sight of Masaya, her heart would pound against her ribcage and force her forwards in a desperate attempt to be by his side.

"Masaya-kun!" she called out and felt herself glow inside from saying it.

In Japan, if you called someone by their first name, _plus_ added a friendly honorific to it, it meant that you were very close to that person... and Ichigo always felt so incredibly happy that she was close enough to Masaya to be able to call him that. Two years ago, he'd officially given her permission to and, on that day, she'd been the happiest girl alive.

He turned to look at her as she slowed to a stop in front of him. "Morning, Ichigo-chan," he replied.

Her bright smile faded slightly, despite the friendly honorific that usually made her happy enough to squeal inside; she couldn't help but notice that his smile was much less... natural than usual. Normally, it was the easiest thing in the world for him to smile... and that smile would always be so bright and cheerful that it would bring butterflies to her stomach... but something was definitely different. It looked... slightly forced.

"Uh, Masaya-kun? Are you okay?"

His brown eyes lit up in surprise. "Huh?"

Ichigo gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Well, you kinda looked like something was bothering you. Anything wrong?"

"Uh..." Masaya paused for a moment before shaking his head, his smile now looking genuine, yet with a hint of sadness mixed in. "Yeah, I... I'm fine... Ichigo-chan..."

Ichigo wasn't sure that she believed him, but she could tell that he didn't want her to press the subject, so she made no mention of it again... although... her heart ached for him; it wasn't very often at all that she'd see such a pained expression on his face...

* * *

It was mid-way through the school day and Ichigo was still worried about her boyfriend. As she pulled on her gym kit - a white short-sleeved T-shirt and blue shorts - she thought about how that expression had remained on his face all day. He'd tried to hide it - she could tell that - but he hadn't been very successful and it was really worrying her.

All day so far, he'd looked as though he'd wanted to tell her something; he'd opened his mouth, made some sort of noise, then, when she'd looked at him, he'd closed his mouth again and looked away, his eyes looking ever-so sorrowful.

Putting her school uniform into her locker, she headed into the gym, her mind thinking about nothing but Masaya and his strange behaviour. As she entered, she grabbed a tennis racket and a shuttlecock and stood by the wall.

"Hey, Momomiya-san," a female voice said.

"Hmm?" Ichigo asked. Looking to her right, she saw a girl she vaguely knew walk in, grabbing a tennis racket. "Oh, hey, Kobayashi-san."

"Do you have a gym partner?"

"Um, nope. Why?"

The girl Ichigo knew as Haruka smiled. "Well, would you like to be _mine _today?"

Ichigo smiled. "Sure, okay!"

Ichigo did think that this was strange - seeing as how Haruka had never asked her to be her gym partner before - but she was never one to turn down a nice offer... and besides, she thought that it might be a good idea to see how good a badminton-player Haruka was.

* * *

"No fair!" Haruka whined as they all headed back to the locker room once gym was over. She stuck her tongue out. "You caught me on a bad day!"

Ichigo laughed; who knew Haruka was so bad at badminton? And so whiney when she lost? She really was a sore loser... although, at the same time, she did look like she was having fun whining.

She clenched a fist near her chest. "Fear me and my amazing badminton skills!"

Haruka laughed, then winked at her. "Yeah, well, you won't be so lucky next time, punk."

"I bet I _will_ be, Miss Pouts-a-lot."

Haruka pouted, just like she had done every time Ichigo had batted the shuttlecock past her and won a point. "But it's not fair..." She went into a tantrum that was obviously fake. "You must have _cheated_ to win that many points over me! I'm _great_ at badminton, _honest_ I am!" Ichigo smirked at her. Haruka sighed and folded her arms. "Alright, fine." She puffed out her cheeks. "I suck." Ichigo burst out laughing. Haruka looked at her before smirking. "In fact, I suck at _all_ sports. Can't shoot a hoop in netball or hit a ball in rounders to save my life." She sighed dramatically, spreading out her arms in a shrug. "But no one's perfect, right?"

Ichigo continued to laugh. "Aww, don't worry, Kobayashi-san... you're not too bad at your _other_ subjects. I'm sure you'll live."

Haruka chuckled. "'Not too bad' is right. You should see the grades I get in Math..."

* * *

It was finally the end of the day and Ichigo was happily walking home with Masaya... and all had seemed well so far, despite his continued strange behaviour... but, as she watched him, he bowed his head, his dark blue bangs covering his brown eyes, and stopped walking. She stopped beside him and watched him in confusion.

"Masaya-kun?" she asked tentatively.

"... Ichigo-chan..." Masaya replied.

"Hmm?"

With great effort it seemed, Masaya lifted his head and looked her in the eyes; he wasn't smiling... and that fact stabbed at her heart like a sharpened knife. Why wasn't he smiling? Where was his gorgeous, perfect smile that always made her heart flutter and told her that everything was right with the world? Why did he look as if he might start crying at any moment?

"W... What's wrong?" She almost felt like crying herself, watching him.

Without warning, Masaya turned around and embraced her, exactly like he'd done three years ago... in the pouring rain... when he'd told her that he loved her. Ichigo felt her face burn, just like it had done that very night.

"I'm so sorry, Ichigo-chan... I... I love you, I really do... it's just that..."

"W... What? What is it?"

"It took me so long to figure it out... but... I realise now that... I love you... but I'm not... _in_ love with you..."

In one instant, Ichigo felt like her heart... nay, her _world_... had shattered into a thousand pieces before her eyes... He wasn't in love with her? What made him suddenly decide _that_? And why was he doing this to her? Why was her wonderful, perfect boyfriend that she loved so much doing this to her?

Her eyes filled up with tears. "W... What? M... Masaya-kun, wha... what are you talking about?" The tears dripped down her face and she clenched her eyes shut, the pain in her heart too much to bear.

She felt him begin to shake slightly, as though he were crying himself. "I... I meant to tell you this morning... but... I just couldn't... I... I'm in love with someone else... Ichigo-chan..."

Shock overcame her, straight through the hurt and despair. "You're... what?"

"H... Haruka... I'm in love with... Kobayashi Haruka..."

Kobayashi Haruka? His next door neighbour? The girl that had asked her to be her badminton partner in gym class earlier? Ichigo shook her head against his shoulder; this has to be a dream... a sick, twisted dream... and, soon, she'd be waking up and everything would be normal again.

"No..."

"I'm sorry, Ichigo-chan... but I'm going to have to... break up with you..."

Ichigo couldn't take this... she just couldn't believe that this was happening. Convinced that this was some kind of joke, she violently shook herself free of his grasp and, tears streaking down her face, glared at him.

"No! This isn't happening! Masaya-kun, I _love_ you! I love you more than I've ever loved _anyone_!" She pointed a finger at him. "And you are _not_ breaking up with me, do you hear? You're not!"

Masaya bowed his head, clearly unable to meet her harsh gaze. "I'm... sorry..."

Her heart panged and, utterly distraught, she was unable to hold her glare. Her hand also fell slack as sobs threatened to wrack her body. Unable to handle it, she turned and ran... ran as far away from Masaya as her feet would carry her. He didn't follow.

* * *

On and on Ichigo ran, sobs being choked from her throat and tears flowing down her face as easily as if they were waterfalls. Her world had fallen apart... her Masaya had dumped her... all because of... Kobayashi Haruka...

She'd told herself this morning that the day would turn out great... that everything would be just as perfect as it always was... but that witch, Haruka, had ruined everything. She'd stolen her boyfriend, the most precious thing in the world to her... and she was never going to get him back...

Now she understood why Haruka had asked her to be her gym partner: she'd wanted to butter her up... make sure that they were good friends _before_ Masaya told her that she'd stolen him away from her... If Ichigo weren't so upset right now, she'd be so hacked off that she'd be breaking things...

She had no idea how far she'd run... all she knew was that her feet were tired and needed a rest, so she stopped to lean on the nearest wall, letting the briefcase in her hand fall to the ground. The area looked vaguely familiar, but she didn't know or care where she was... All she wanted to do was to lean on the wall and sob to her heart's content... so that's what she did.

After a few minutes, a nearby door opened and closed, followed by a male sigh and footsteps. "Why don't you go cry somewhere else?" the voice grumbled. "You're giving me a heada- Ichigo?"

Ichigo raised her head at the sound of her name and looked into the face of a tall blonde boy with piercing blue eyes. She recognised him instantly.

She sniffled. "Sh-Shirogane?" she asked in a weak voice. Glancing around, she saw, to her slight surprise, that she was leaning on the wall of Cafe Mew Mew.

He walked closer to her. "Hey, are you okay? What happened?"

Ichigo was so overcome with emotion... so distressed about Masaya... and so relieved to finally see a friendly face... that she couldn't help but throw her arms around him with a wail. He jolted backwards, but, once he regained his composure, he wrapped his arms around her.

Through her sobs, she attempted to speak. "M... Masaya-k-kun... b-broke... up... with me!"

He held her tighter. "He did, did he?" She couldn't help but notice that his voice held a bitter undertone. "And why would he do _that_?"

Ichigo continued to choke on sobs. "He's... in love... with s... someone else!"

A growl escaped Ryou's throat. "Why, that ungrateful little... Don't worry, Ichigo... I can look after you, if you want..."

She looked up at him. "H-Huh?"

He smiled at her. "Come inside the cafe... we can sit down and talk, if you like... just to, you know, keep your mind _off_ that little slime ball." Ichigo chuckled very slightly. "What do you think? I mean, you don't _have_ to. If you'd rather go home to your parents, then-"

Ichigo shook her head vigorously; Oh, God, no. There was no way that she wanted to talk to her mom and dad about this yet... especially her dad. He'd go ballistic if he found out... Plus, she'd like to spend some time with Ryou... he was the friendliest face she'd come across since running away from Masaya... and it was always nice to be around a friendly face when you were upset.

She sniffled again, feeling much calmer now. "No, it's okay... I'll come inside."

Ryou tightened his hug reassuringly before letting go. "Okay then." He then began walking round the corner to the back door.

Ichigo chuckled, wiping her wet salty face with the back of her arm as she picked up her briefcase. "Hey! Ladies first!"

Ryou stopped in his tracks and turned to smirk at her. "Nuh uh. Age before beauty."

Ichigo smiled, her cheeks tinting slightly; Ryou had just unintentionally complimented her looks... She paused; it _was_ unintentional, wasn't it? Sure, he used to mess her around, like three years ago, pretending that he had a crush on her, but... Wait, he _had_ been pretending, hadn't he? She shook her head; she was being ridiculous. Of course he had... he didn't like her that way. His kisses and his forward actions had just been just a way to way to mess with her head... although... it kind of hurt to think that. The two boys that used to love her, Kisshu and Masaya, had now lost interest in her and fallen for someone else... and Ryou, despite how he'd made her feel at times, had never loved her to begin with...

As she followed Ryou inside Cafe Mew Mew, the building that she hadn't been inside in two years, she wondered a few things. Why was he doing this for her? Why was he offering to look after her, sit down with her and talk to her about her feelings? It was rather freaky for him to be acting so nice, considering how cold and teasing he was normally...

She smiled; ah well... it wasn't as if she was complaining about it. They were... somewhat friends, after all... and he'd been there, by her side, throughout the whole Mew Project, so she felt nothing wrong with opening up to him... plus... Her smile turned into a smirk; she _still_ couldn't deny that he was pretty damn hot for his age...


	3. One's Distant, One's a Strawberry

Author's note: Hi. Okay, I'm sorry for the delay. I've not been very well lately (kidney infection – those things cause monster migraines, let me tell you), but I'm recovering nicely. It's unfortunate, however, that I'm writing this chapter before a college test, but to hell with it. I need to get back into writing. Lol.

Now, I just want to point out that I made two mistakes in the last two chapters. Sorry. I've corrected them now. In the first chapter, the text now says, 'He was going to tell Ichigo tomorrow' rather than 'tomorrow morning' to fit it around Haruka partnering up with Ichigo in gym class, and, in chapter two, the sequence of Ichigo getting dressed in the morning now includes her cat bell choker from Masaya. I can't believe I forgot to include that before. Lol.

Also, I only just realised just how long I made these chapters. Lol. I hadn't intended to make them this long, really I didn't. XD I guess I just got carried away when writing this fic. Haha. Therefore, _all_ of the chapters shall be of similar length, because I don't like chapters being of unequal length. :P

Finally, this is what the chapter title is about: 'Ryou' means 'distant' (as well as 'cool', 'refreshing' and 'reality') and 'Ichigo' means 'strawberry'.

**Chapter Three: One's Distant, One's a Strawberry**

Closing the doors of the very pink and girly Cafe Mew Mew behind Ichigo, nineteen-year-old Shirogane Ryou guided the high school girl with a sweeping hand gesture over to the only available table in the room, seeing as all the rest had been cleared away long ago - due to it not being a cafe anymore - and had been replaced by items that made it look more like a person's home. She nodded and headed in that direction.

As he watched her move, he uncomfortably took note of how hot she looked in the uniform that she was wearing. The colour and style both suited her extremely well... and the skirt was so short, he could see a great deal of her legs without really trying. Her old uniform had only succeeded in making her look cute, but the new one made him rather hot under the collar.

He also took note of the single high ponytail that her dark red hair was tied up into; she used to wear it in two pigtails that had, also, only succeeded in making her look cute... but, like the new uniform, the new hairstyle made her look more grown-up and, therefore, very damn hot.

Ichigo sat herself down at the table that Ryou had indicated, placing her briefcase at her feet, and looked up at him, waiting, so he walked over and sat down opposite her.

Ichigo looked down. "Um..." she said awkwardly, "so..."

"Ichigo! Ichigo!" a tiny voice called out. Ichigo's head sprung up and she looked around wildly. Ryou then watched her suddenly focus on a spot behind him before her face lit up and a pink ball of fluff zoomed past his face. "Ichigo!"

"Masha!" Ichigo stood up and hugged the flying robot. "Wow, Masha, it's been so long since I last saw you!"

Masha snuggled into Ichigo's embrace. "Masha miss Ichigo! Masha miss Ichigo!"

Ryou smiled; the last time the two of them had been together was two years ago, so he'd been _expecting_ a touching reunion. His smile turned very slightly sad; it was really his doing that they'd been away from each other for so long, but he'd never once regretted his decision. Masha had been living with Ichigo all the time that the Mew Mews had been on call, as that was where he'd needed to be... but, as soon as the threats had stopped two years ago, he'd decided to take Masha back and instead have him live at Cafe Mew Mew. That way, Ichigo could get on with her normal life and not have Masha, a clear mark of her old life, interfering with it. Ichigo had been completely against the idea at first, demanding to keep Masha despite the lack of threats to the planet, because she'd formed a special bond with the robot. Ryou, however, had remained firm in his decision and that had been the last time that the two humans had spoken face-to-face.

Ryou heard sniffling coming from Ichigo. Looking over to her, he was horrified to see her crying again, clutching onto Masha like a life preserver.

"Ichigo?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"Ack! Masha getting squashed! Masha getting squashed!"

"I... can't..." Ichigo shook her head and sat back down, tears dripping down her face. "Masha..."

Ryou blinked. "What? What's wrong?"

A sob escaped Ichigo's throat. "I... I named Ma-Masha after... M-Masaya-k-kun..."

For the second time, anger surged through Ryou's veins at the mention of that name; that boy had been Ichigo's world... he'd meant everything to her... he'd been the boy Ryou himself had been sure she'd end up marrying and living happily ever after with... but he'd broken her heart by choosing someone else over her.

The scowl on his face was deep as he watched her sob, still squashing Masha with her tight hug. "Listen, Ichigo..." She lifted her tear-streaked face to look at him. "For a start, you need to stop calling the guy..." He cringed. "... 'Masaya-kun'... okay?" That had felt way too friendly a way to address the boy for his liking, but he'd needed to say it to get his point across.

Ichigo blinked and sniffled. "But... but we were..."

"I know. You _were_ close... but not anymore... and helping you get over him clearly won't be easy... but you can start by calling him 'Aoyama'."

Ichigo's eyes widened in horror, as if he'd asked her to jump off the top of Tokyo Tower without her cat powers. "Aoy... Aoy..."

"Aoyama."

She blinked at him for a minute, then looked down. "Well... what about if I call him 'Aoyama-kun'? Like I used... to...?"

Ryou sighed as he saw Ichigo on the brink of tears again; she really wasn't used to calling the guy anything other than either 'Aoyama-kun' or 'Masaya-kun'... but each of those names seemed to bring back horrible memories of how happy the two of them used to be together.

He pounded his lower arm on the table, making her jump. "Look me in the eyes and say it: 'Ao-ya-ma'. Don't put an honorific on the end, just say 'Aoyama'."

Ichigo blinked. "Aoyama..."

Ryou smiled, nodding, and lifted his arm from the table to cross his arms.

Ichigo managed a half-smile, but it seemed to die again as she looked back down at the table and loosened her grip on Masha, who stopped struggling and looked up at her with sad eyes.

Ryou didn't like the silence that had suddenly fallen upon the room; it was a sad and awkward silence. Glancing around the room, he racked his brains for something to say to the distraught schoolgirl sitting opposite him and hopefully take her mind off her downcast mood. He twisted his mouth in concentration; he could comment on the weather, but he didn't really like small talk... he could insult Masaya, but that wouldn't make her feel better, as not only would it be reminding her of her ex-boyfriend, it would make her feel bad listening to him insult the guy. He racked his brains harder. Suddenly, he had an idea.

He smirked. "Hey, Ichigo..." She slowly looked up at him. He shrugged casually. "What's the deal with your school skirt, anyway?" She blinked at him. "I mean, it's really short. Get it any shorter and everyone would be able to see your panties." He felt a surge of satisfaction as he saw her face turn red and her jaw clench. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course... if you _like_ attracting the attention of all the neighbourhood perverts every time the wind picks up."

Ichigo's clenched fist slammed into the table, her face a picture of rage. "Shut up, Shirogane!"

His smirk deepened. "Or what? You'll flash me?"

She roared. "Shut up! Pervert!" She threw Masha at him, who squealed as he spun in circles towards the blonde.

Ryou ducked and laughed. "Aww, now you're taking your anger out on Masha? That's not nice."

Ichigo shrieked in a mixture of panic and realisation. "Masha!"

She stood up and rushed over to where she'd thrown the robot and Ryou turned in his seat just enough to see her kneel down and pick it up. He snickered. Ichigo, clearly hearing this, froze, standing up at lightning speed and whirling round to glare heatedly at him.

Ryou shrugged. "The slightest thing and they're on show." He was lying, of course, but what was the harm in a little teasing?

"Shut up!" She raised a fist to punch him.

Ryou laughed. "Oh, come on... you're not seriously going to hit your own boss, are you?"

Ichigo growled. "No... I'm going to _maul_ my _ex_-boss!"

Ryou flinched away from the fist, seriously believing that she would hit him with it. After all, Ichigo _was_ known to be quite brash when enraged. Instead, he felt the front legs of his chair lift up off the ground.

"Wha-?" He looked up and saw Ichigo smirking evilly at him as she pulled his chair back even further. "Mah! Stop it, Ichigo! Don't!" Ichigo yanked him backwards and stepped out of the way. He fell straight to the ground with a yelp.

The red-headed girl burst into cackles of laughter and the pink robot flew around her head, also laughing. Ryou, however, felt his face flush slightly with embarrassment, as she'd just seriously dented his pride by making him fall on the floor like that. He was also rather annoyed at being made the victim of her cruel joke.

Standing up, the blonde-haired boy brushed himself off and glared at the uniformed girl in front of him, who was doubling over in her laughter. He couldn't help but smile at how much she seemed to have cheered up... despite the fact that it was at his expense.

"I got you there, Shirogane."

Ryou looked away, feeling slightly exasperated. "Mmm... you sure did." He looked back at her. "But I'm glad to see you're feeling better."

She looked confused for a moment as she straightened up. "Huh?" She blinked before smiling. "Yeah, I guess I _am_ feeling better. Thanks."

Ryou nodded. "My pleasure." He suddenly noticed the accessory around her neck and leaned forward to touch it with his index finger.

"Huh?"

"Hmm..." Ryou moved back again and put his arms back down to his sides. "You told me a long time ago, back when we were fighting that other enemy, that you got this thing from Aoyama."

Ichigo looked down and nodded. "Mmm-hmm..."

"Well, I suggest you get rid of it." Ichigo looked up at him. "It symbolises being attached to him, especially since it's a choker. Throw it away."

Once again, Ichigo looked horrified. "What? No! I... I can't throw it away!" Her hand moved up to grab the choker and her voice went quiet. "It means a lot to me."

Ryou heaved a deep sigh and ran his fingers through his blonde locks. "Alright, fine... _don't_ throw it away... just take it off and... store it somewhere, okay?

Ichigo nodded. "Okay... I'll do that... when I get home..."

Ryou sighed, not failing to notice the sombre tone in her voice; he knew that it would take a long time for her to get over Masaya, which made him think that maybe he should help her along. He _would_, of course, leave this sort of thing to the other Mew Mews, but they had their own lives to lead. They barely saw them anymore, what with them all attending different schools and living in different areas, so, essentially, it was up to him... not that he minded that, of course.

"Ichigo-"

Ichigo looked up at the clock on the wall and sighed. "You know what? I've been here too long already." She chuckled half-heartedly. "If I leave it any later, my parents will be wondering where I am."

"... Right."

"Goodbye, Ichigo!" Masha called out.

Ichigo waved to the tiny robot. "Bye, Masha." She then made her way over to the door, picking up her briefcase as she did so.

"Ichigo?" Ryou asked.

She stopped and looked back at him. "Hmm?"

Ryou once again ran a hand through his hair. "Do you... maybe want to... come back again tomorrow?" He looked over at her before shrugging and shoving his hands in his pockets. "You don't have to, of course. It's up to you."

Ichigo blinked at him for a moment, then smiled. "Sure, Shirogane. I'd love to come back tomorrow. Maybe I can get to know you a bit better. I'd like that. I mean, I thought you were just a snooty, cold, arrogant jerk, but you've shown a caring side."

His eyes widened, then he smirked. "Excuse me, but you've _always_ known about my caring side. I always showed it when you and the other Mew Mews were in trouble, didn't I?"

Ichigo put on a contemplative expression. "Hmm... yeah, I guess so..."

Ryou strode forward very fast, reached out and grabbed her by the chin. She let out a faint squeal.

"Admit I'm a nice guy, Ichigo. You know I am."

Ichigo tried to shake free of his grip. "Let go of my chin."

"Not until you admit I'm a nice guy."

Ichigo scowled. "But you're not! You always tease me, just because you find it funny when I get annoyed!"

Ryou chuckled. "Very true." He leaned his face forward so that it was mere inches away from hers. "But I still want you to admit that I can be a nice guy."

Ichigo's face flushed red. "Wh... Why are you so close? Are you... are you going to try to _kiss_ me again?" Ryou smirked at how flustered and annoyed the girl was getting; he was finding it very amusing. "You'd better not!"

"Or what, exactly?"

"Or... or..." She seemed to be racking her brain for inspiration. "Or I'll kick you where it'll hurt you the most! I mean it!"

Ryou laughed. "Oh, is that right?"

Ichigo stared him down. "Yes, that's right."

Ryou merely chuckled as he let go of her chin, placing his hands on his hips. "No need to panic... I wasn't going to kiss you." He chuckled again. "Nah. It wouldn't be any fun if it didn't turn you into a cat."

Ichigo scowled at him, her face even redder than before and her fists clenched at her sides. "You jerk." Ryou smirked at her, leaned forward and flicked her nose. "Ow!"

"No Mew mark means no transformation... and no transformation means no turning into a cat when you get kissed. Tell me, what's the fun in that?"

Ichigo rubbed her nose. "I hate you."

"Right... which certainly explains why you want to come back to my house tomorrow."

Ichigo stuck her tongue out at him before opening the door and walking out of Cafe Mew Mew. "See you, Shirogane."

"See you, Ichigo." Ryou closed the door.

* * *

Lying on his back in bed, the nineteen-year-old blonde boy stared up at the ceiling and sighed, Masha zooming round his head; he really couldn't believe that life had come down to this... that Masaya had dumped Ichigo for someone else... that Ichigo had come round to his house and that he'd comforted her... that she'd be coming round again tomorrow night...

He'd always had feelings for Ichigo, right from the very moment he'd met her, but he'd always thought of her as taken, never to be his. He'd thought she was cute the day he'd rescued her from the rat Chimera Anima that had attacked Masaya and left him unconscious... and had developed a crush on her when he'd seen her Mew Mew form's passion, determination and – he had to smirk at this – sexual appeal. Being bright pink and catlike, with a bell attached by a ribbon to her tail, she looked like a teenage boy's fantasy come to life... which was no doubt why Kisshu had liked her so much and had claimed her as his 'toy'.

His smirk faded away again; it was a while later, when the first three Mew Mews had been gathered, that he'd developed more of an _infatuation_ with Ichigo. He'd seen just how elegant, beautiful and ladylike she'd looked in the ball gown that he'd bought for her and had felt like he'd been floating on cloud nine when they'd waltzed. He'd felt like the luckiest and happiest guy alive. It was a moment that he'd never wanted to end. It had just felt so amazing and so... right....

Even after the ball had ended, the infatuation had continued. Everything that Ichigo had done had entertained him, prompting him to tease her and provoke her into a rage... and, every time, he'd come back for more. She'd been his strawberry-flavoured drug... and he'd kept needing to come back to have his fill of her klutzy air-headedness and fiery-tempered passion... the latter of which being evident every time she was either defending herself, defending Planet Earth or defending her love, Masaya.

He sighed again, recalling that, once, he'd seriously thought that he might have been in love with Ichigo, as all the signs had been there; he'd felt jealous whenever she was around Masaya, he'd felt scared whenever anything had happened to her, he'd felt the impulse to kiss her whenever she'd gotten too close – and actually _did_ kiss her on two occasions – and had always thought about her when she wasn't there.

He rolled over onto his side; yeah, he'd _thought_ that he was in love with her, but he'd spoken to Keiichirou, asking him what it was like to be in love, as the man knew perfectly well himself, thanks to the love that he'd had – and now had again – for Rei. The man had given him a strange look, but had told him, "Well, Ryou... to truly know that you're in love with someone, you have to ask yourself a lot of questions. Do you know them inside out and not just _like_ what you see, but _love_ what you see? Do you know their favourite food, favourite drink, favourite music and anything else you can think of, plus the stuff they _don't_ like? Do you think about them all the time, wondering what they're doing, if they're thinking of you and how they'd react to knowing how much you think about them? And let's not forget the most important thing: are willing to die for them on the spot, no questions asked? Would you jump in front of a bullet for them, without giving a second thought to your _own_ safety?"

These questions had constantly swirled around Ryou's head as though they'd been trapped in a mixing bowl, being stirred round and round by a wooden spoon; no, he couldn't answer _all_ of the questions with a yes, which had made him realise how idiotic he'd been, thinking that he was in love with Momomiya Ichigo. He'd never told Keiichirou whom it was that he liked, but the man was smart, so there wasn't much doubt that he'd figured it out for himself anyway.

"Ryou look unhappy!" Masha chirped. "Ryou look unhappy!"

Ryou smiled lightly and grabbed the robot from mid-air "Yeah, well..." he replied, "Ryou _is_ unhappy..." He paused. "Think nothing of it, Masha."

He let Masha go and it zoomed around his head. "Masha want to _make_ happy! Masha want to _make_ happy!"

Ryou sighed. "You know, I think Ichigo should change your name. She _did_ name you after Aoyama, after all... and keeping your name as 'Masha' is only going to bring her to tears again."

"No subject change! No subject change!" The robot flew in mad circles round Ryou's head, clearly not liking how its attempt at comfort was being ignored. Ryou sighed again.

* * *

Ichigo had finally arrived home and felt exhausted; she'd had quite a day and was taking off her shoes, all set to collapse onto either her bed or the sofa, when her father, Shintaro, came rushing over to her. She leapt back in shock at the speed.

"Ichigo!" he cried. "Where have you been? You normally come straight home from school! What took you so long? Were you at Aoyama's house? Did something happen there? What's been going on?"

Ichigo's mother, Sakura, appeared seemingly out of nowhere and placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Easy, Shintaro..." she said, "I'm sure Ichigo wasn't up to anything bad." She beamed at her daughter. "Right, Ichigo?"

"Uh..." Ichigo replied, blinking, "right..."

"I hope you spent a lovely afternoon with your boyfriend." Sakura winked. "After all, isn't that what lovers are _supposed_ to do? Spend time together? Even if it's just a nice little walk in the park?"

"Uh..." Ichigo looked down. "Sure..."

"Hmm?" Shintaro asked. "What's wrong, Ichigo? Aoyama didn't do anything to hurt you today, did he?"

Ichigo couldn't stop her face from turning red as her head shot up to look her father in the eyes. "Um..." She felt the familiar lump in her throat at being reminded of the catastrophic event that had taken place as soon as she'd left school for the day, setting off the chain reaction of her spending the afternoon with Ryou.

Sakura gave Shintaro a light punch on the shoulder. "Now, Shintaro..." she said playfully, "even after giving the boy your blessings three years ago, you're _still_ being overprotective. Does Aoyama really seem like the type of boy who would hurt our little Ichigo?"

Ichigo felt her stomach twist into knots.

Shintaro sighed, smiling slightly. "I suppose not. He's a good kid, after all... and you don't find many of those around these days." He paused, then shrugged. "Okay, okay... wherever you were, Ichigo, it's nothing to do with me." He trudged away again, planting himself on the couch. He smirked. "But do tell me if you end up pregnant, okay?"

Sakura laughed. "Shintaro!"

Normally, Ichigo would get very red in the face, scream, "Dad!" and insist that she was not, and was still not ready to be, pregnant, but, as of today, she could do nothing but force out a weak chuckle and lower her head to hide her watering eyes; Masaya was no longer her boyfriend, so she no longer had any chance to _get_ pregnant with his baby... not that she'd ever slept with him before, because she'd never been ready to, but she'd always known that she'd want to sleep with him eventually. Now, that just wasn't an option anymore.

She ran to the stairs, dropping her briefcase on the way, and dashed up them towards her bedroom. Nothing felt more inviting than her bed right now; she wanted to collapse on it and cry her cares away once more.

"You're _not_ pregnant, are you?" Shintaro's horrified voice called out after her. Apparently, he'd misunderstood her unusual lack of outburst.

"No!" Ichigo called back, slamming her door behind her. She reached up to her neck with both hands, untied her cat bell choker and threw it across the room. She then ran over to her bed, collapsed on it and began to cry.


	4. Acchi Itte!

Author's note: Lol. Well, here I am again with another chapter. I really don't know how long this fic's gonna be, just to let you know.

Last chapter, I made a mistake, so I went back and fixed it. The inside of Cafe Mew Mew in this fic doesn't look the same as it used to, seeing as it's just a house now. I'll go into more detail in chapter five.

Lastly, 'Oc-chan' means 'uncle' (in a casual, friendly tone) and the chapter title means 'Go away!'. You'll see why when you read it.

**Chapter Four: Acchi Itte!**

Nothing about that morning in Daiken High School would have suggested to anybody that something was drastically different. It appeared to be a morning like any other, with everyday shoes being swapped for school shoes, random gossip being exchanged and students walking down the corridor, swinging their briefcases without a care in the world. It sickened Momomiya Ichigo that everyone could be so happily oblivious to the travesty that had befallen her life.

As she took off her everyday shoes and pulled her school shoes from her shoe locker, she felt a tap on her left shoulder. Turning round, she saw the face of her friend, Yanagida Moe, whose blonde hair was much longer than it used to be. It was now in front of her shoulders, tied in two loose pigtails with pink bobbles.

"Morning, Ichigo!" Moe said, her hazel eyes sparkling.

Ichigo forced a smile. "Morning, Moe," she replied. She then felt a tap on her right shoulder. Turning round, she saw her other friend, Honjo Miwa, whose brown hair was also longer than it used to be. It was barely brushing her shoulders and had been layered.

"Morning, Ichigo!" Miwa said, her grey eyes sparkling just as much as Moe's.

Ichigo couldn't hold her fake smile much longer. "Morning, Miwa."

Miwa's smile suddenly disappeared and she looked worried. "What's wrong, Ichigo? You okay?"

Ichigo put her everyday shoes in her shoe locker. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, yeah... I'm fine..."

Moe grabbed her shoulder and turned her round to look her in the eyes. She was no longer smiling either. "Cripes, you look really miserable. What's wrong?"

Ichigo shook her head, her smile finally slipping from her face. "It's nothing."

Moe frowned. "It is so _not_ nothing." She paused for a moment, then sighed. "Alright, fine. We can talk about it _later_, if you want." Ichigo nodded as she dropped her school shoes to the floor and placed them on her feet, so Moe's voice sounded happy when she next spoke. "So, where's Aoyama-kun this morning?"

Ichigo felt her heart plummet into her stomach at the mention of that name... and had to fight for control over the tears that wanted to flow from her eyes.

Miwa giggled. "Have you two slept together yet?" she asked devilishly, elbowing her in the side.

Ichigo fought even harder to keep down the tears... but they'd be flowing loose at any moment... and her friends would be fussing over her until she told them what was wrong... and then they'd know... they'd know what had happened...

"Oh, look, talk of the devil!" Moe said cheerfully. "It's Aoyama-kun!" Ichigo's heart skipped a beat. "Let's leave these two alone, Miwa."

Miwa giggled again. "Okay. Bye, Ichigo!"

"Yeah, bye, Ichigo!"

Ichigo instantly straightened up, now able to see her friends hurrying away from her, and wanting desperately to call them back... but her voice had died in her throat. She hung her head; that would arouse suspicion anyway... Why on Earth would Momomiya Ichigo be begging her friends to stay when her wonderful, perfect boyfriend, whom she loved more than life itself, was coming over to talk to her? She cursed them for no longer having shoe lockers near hers.

"... Ichigo-chan?" Masaya's voice asked tentatively.

Gritting her teeth, she turned away from him, closed her shoe locker and picked up her briefcase. She stared at the floor, keeping her voice as monotone as possible when she spoke. "Leave me alone."

She heard him take a step towards her. "But, Ichigo-chan, I-"

"Please stop calling me that..." Her voice was starting to waver as she fought down a sea of tears that begged to be released.

There was a moment's pause. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry..." He paused again. "I knew it would hurt you, but..."

Ichigo shook her head, the tears beginning to leak from her eyes. "Stop..."

"I just want you to understand why I did what I did..."

"Stop it..."

"I didn't want to hurt you... I only-"

"Stop it!" She turned to look him in the eyes, the tears flowing easily down her face. Sobs wracked her throat as she took in his familiar appearance. "I d-don't want to... to hear it! N-Nothing you say can... can fix what you... did!" She took a moment to breathe deeply. "Just... go away! N-Never sp-speak to me again... Aoyama!"

With that said, she turned and ran away from him for the second time in two days, her hear breaking into pieces from what she'd just called him to his face: 'Aoyama'. Calling him by his surname was like throwing away everything they'd been through together in the four years they'd been a couple. Calling him 'Aoyama' and 'Aoyama' alone was like talking to him as though he were a stranger... a stranger whom she wouldn't even grant the decency of a polite honorific, such as '-san'... She sobbed as she continued to run; there was no fairy tale ending to _this_ story...

* * *

All throughout his first two lessons that morning, Aoyama Masaya simply couldn't concentrate on anything. The teachers were trying to teach him new things... and he wanted to learn them... but all he could think about was Ichigo.

He sighed quietly as he, for the tenth time that morning, wrote her name in kanji in his notebook; his heart had been at breaking point as it was with her telling him to stop talking and go away... but when she'd called him 'Aoyama'... his heart had snapped in half. Four years of being together... four years of happiness... thrown down the drain. She didn't even want to talk him _politely_ anymore, never mind _affectionately_... and that thought had made silent tears drip down his face at the sight of her running away from him.

He twirled his pencil around miserably between his fingers; all this just because he had to be an idiot and fall in love with someone else. A part of him wished that he'd never met Kobayashi Haruka... then he would have never had to see Ichigo's heart break so badly...

_Ichigo..._ he thought, feeling his heart twist as a large lump formed in his throat, _I'm so sorry... Why did this have to happen? Why did I have to do this to you?_

* * *

Masaya watched as Haruka blinked at him, disbelief written all over her face. "You're... kidding... right, Masaya-kun?" she asked.

He sighed in response, looking away from her and shaking his head. "No..." he replied.

She was silent for a moment, then she lowered her voice. "But... isn't that the whole reason you broke up with Momomiya-san?"

He nodded slowly, feeling as though his heart was crumbling away inside of him. "Yeah..."

There was another moment of silence. "So, then... why?"

He lowered his head, letting his dark blue bangs cover his eyes. "Because..."

"... Because what?"

"... Because I can't get over how upset I made her..."

Haruka made a sound of irritation. "Masaya-kun... you _knew_ this would upset her. We talked about this before you told her. Remember? Two days ago? I was leaning out my window, talking to you and-"

"I know, I know..."

"So, then, why? You broke up with her so you could be with _me_, right? Don't you _want_ to be with me anymore?"

Masaya, horrified by her words, spun his head round to look her in the eyes. "Yes, I do! I just..." His eyes melted back into sorrow.

Haruka sighed. "Masaya-kun... do you want her back?"

Masaya blinked at her in disbelief. "No! I... I don't..." He looked back down at the floor. "I just... I really upset her... more than I _thought_ I would... more than I'd _hoped_ to." He paused a moment. "I didn't want to upset her at _all_... but I knew I _would_..."

A short growling sound came from Haruka's throat and he looked up to see her running her fingers through her long brown locks. "So... do you think you and I will _ever_ be able to start a relationship?"

Masaya gave a slow, solemn nod. "Eventually. I just... need us to put it on hold for a while... because I really can't handle it right now. Is that okay... Haruka-chan?"

Haruka looked away, clenching her lips together and looking very irritated with him. She then gave a deep sigh through her nostrils and turned to look him in the eyes. "Fine. If you don't want to start a relationship yet, because you're too upset about how your ex is feeling, fine." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Just don't stay in wet blanket mode _too_ long, okay?"

Masaya's mouth fell open in shock... and he stared at his would-be girlfriend, unable to believe that she'd just called him a wet blanket. He lowered his head for the third time; she was right, though. Maybe he _was_ far too soft for his own good...

_Do I even __**deserve**__ Haruka-chan?_ he wondered. _Does such a wonderful girl deserve a boyfriend who's such hard work to be with?_

Haruka sighed in exasperation. "I'll talk to Ichigo tonight after school. You've shown me where she lives before, so I'll just go straight to her house after I've gotten dressed." She paused. "Hopefully, I can help get rid of this dark cloud of misery hanging over you two."

* * *

Finally, it was the end of the day and Kobayashi Haruka was at home after being walked there by a still-miserable Masaya. As she changed out of her school uniform into a pink spaghetti-strap T-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers, she took one last look in the mirror, breathing deeply and preparing herself for what she was about to do.

_Okay..._ she thought, _I just have to go to Momomiya-san's house and talk to her about Masaya-kun. Shouldn't be a problem, right?_ She paused. _But what exactly am I supposed to say? "Sorry, but your ex is mine now, so get over it already"? I don't think so._ She gave a light smile. _I'm not __**that**__ mean._ She paused again to think for a moment. _All I have to do is a have a nice, pleasant conversation with her about how Masaya-kun never meant to hurt her. He just fell in love with me, as I did him._ She nodded, a confident look on her face, as she picked up her brush to give her long brown locks a once-over; she wanted to look nice when she got to Ichigo's house.

* * *

As Haruka walked down the street, she became more confident with every step she took; she could do this, no problem! Ichigo was sure to understand! Sure, she'd still be feeling the sting from her and Masaya's break-up, but she'd be alright enough to listen to her while she set things straight.

She slowed down slightly, however, when she thought about the reason she'd fallen in love with Masaya in the first place. If... _that_... that terrible event in her past... had never happened, then she would never have hated perfection so much... meaning that she would never have scolded Masaya for _being_ as perfect as he was... and if that had never happened, he'd never have felt compelled to open up his heart to her, become more emotional and reveal just how much angst was truly locked up inside his heart.

Haruka felt her heart twist into a knot, but she shook her heart to rid herself of the horrid memory that had started all of this... although it was hard to whenever she thought of her beloved Masaya... and how much he'd been suffering deep inside before she'd come along and forced him to talk about his feelings.... She scowled; _he'd_ been like that too. Only _he_ wasn't like Masaya. He could _never_ be like Masaya.

Ten years ago, back when Kobayashi Haruka had been six years old, she'd found out a horrible truth that she would never forget... something that would make her no longer like or trust fairytales. Up until that point, she'd _loved_ her uncle; he'd always been the Mr. Perfect of the Kobayashi family. He'd been handsome, smart, athletic, sweet, sensitive and had never gotten angry about _anything_. Every girl had adored him and he'd had many girlfriends over the years... but something Haruka could never understand was how they'd always break up with him a few months later... but she'd never let herself worry over the matter. After all, he'd been perfect. Even his name, Benjiro, meant 'peaceful' and 'enjoy peace'.

However, one day, when her regular babysitter, Murayama Aiko, had taken the night off to attend her best friend's sweet sixteen birthday bash, Haruka's parents had asked Benjiro to cover for her... and, originally, Haruka had been overjoyed; she'd always looked up to and admired her perfect, Prince Charming uncle more than anything... and he'd always told her that she was his little princess.

Haruka scowled deeply at the memory, because, very soon after her parents had driven out of sight, she'd discovered the man her uncle truly was. He'd instantly changed from Jekyll to Hyde... from Prince Charming to the evil fire-breathing dragon... and had gotten extremely angry with having to babysit her... calling her regular babysitter something awful for going out partying and leaving her there for _him_ to look after when he had much _better_ things to do.

* * *

_Six-year-old Haruka's eyes widened in horror at her uncle, unable to believe the drastic change in his behaviour. She felt a lump clog her throat as she asked, "Wh... What do you mean? I... I thought you liked me..."_

_Benjiro rounded on her, his face bright red and contorted in fury. "__**Like**__ you?" he replied in a menacing snarl. "Don't make me laugh!" He shoved her to the floor. "I __**never**__ liked you, you little bitch! I've always __**hated**__ you! I __**hate**__ kids! They're annoying, they're whiny and they take up my time! I __**hate**__ you!"_

_Tears spills from Haruka's eyes as sobs wracked her body. Where on Earth had her wonderful, perfect uncle gone? He'd always been so nice and sweet to her before... but now? He was acting like a completely different person... as though aliens had abducted the uncle she knew and loved and had replaced him with an evil clone._

"_O-Oc-chan..."_

"_Shut up!" He grabbed her upper arm. "And get up, you lousy bitch!" He yanked her to her feet and shoved her in the direction of the stairs. "Get to bed! I never __**wanted**__ to babysit you, so I'm not __**going**__ to babysit you, got it? Bed!"_

* * *

Haruka clenched her teeth in anger; just the thought of her horrid, two-faced uncle was enough to make her furious... and, if that wasn't bad enough, she'd spent that entire night curled up in her bed, crying her eyes out... and, as soon as her parents had come home, he'd been all nice and sweet and perfect again! They'd never suspected a thing. She breathed deeply, attempting to soothe herself, though it didn't do much good. She'd never told anyone about her experience, as she knew perfectly well that no one would have believed her. Her uncle had spent his entire life pretending he was perfect, bottling up all feelings of hatred inside... then, as soon as he'd been alone with his six-year-old niece, he'd unleashed his anger. True, she could have suffered a lot worse, but she was still scarred from her experience. She'd hoped that it had been a one-off thing too, but, as she'd found out the few other times that Aiko had taken the day off and Benjiro had replaced her, it hadn't been.

She took another deep breath to calm herself and thought about Masaya. When she'd first met him and discovered that he was just as perfect as her uncle Benjiro had seemed, she'd had to squash down the feelings of anger and hatred that had kept attacking her heart every time she'd spoken to him; she hadn't wanted to think of them as one and the same... she'd wanted to give Masaya a chance... allow him to prove that he wasn't like Benjiro... but a month into knowing him had made her worry slightly about what kind of friendship she was getting herself into... She smiled; she knew _now_ that Masaya was _nothing_ like Benjiro. _He_ only hid feelings of angst and misery, wanting to keep the world happy and not make everyone worry about him. He cared... whereas Benjiro had only hidden feelings of anger and hatred at the world. He certainly _didn't_ care.

She shook herself out of her thoughts as she noticed that she was standing outside of Ichigo's house. She took another deep breath, calming her thoughts, and knocked on the door. It was a minute or so when the door opened, revealing a very pretty woman with dark red hair and reddish-brown eyes exactly like Ichigo's.

"Oh, hello," the woman said, smiling. "How can I help you?"

"Momomiya-san?" she asked.

"Yes, that's me."

Haruka bowed politely. "Hello. My name's Haruka. I'm here to see your daughter."

The woman's smile brightened. "Oh, okay! Ichigo's upstairs. I'll just call her down for you. Why don't you come in?"

_Oh, yeah, like my would-be boyfriend's distressed ex would want me in her house..._ She smiled. "No, that's okay. I'll wait here."

The woman blinked at her confusedly, but smiled. "Okay, then. One minute." She disappeared into the house, leaving the door ajar. "Ichigo! You have a visitor!"

"I don't want to see anybody!" Ichigo's voice replied.

The woman sighed loudly. "Ichigo! I don't know what's up with you lately, but don't leave your visitor waiting outside! Talk to her out the window, if you must!"

"... Fine! Fine!"

The red-haired woman appeared at the door. "I'm so sorry about this. Ichigo's been... in a funny mood lately."

Haruka smiled, slightly uncomfortable about the whole situation... that she, herself, had obviously caused. "No problem."

As soon as the woman disappeared back into the house, Haruka took a few steps back and looked up at the window to see Ichigo, clad in pink pyjamas, open it and lean out with her arms folded on the window sill.

Ichigo scowled. "Oh... it's you, Kobayashi," she said coldly.

Haruka frowned at the rude comment; so she wasn't even going to be polite about this? Well, _she_ wasn't about to stoop to that level; she was going to be polite, seeing as she had no reason _not_ to be. She cleared her throat and smiled. "Hey, Momomiya-san!" she replied.

Ichigo's scowl deepened. "What do you want?"

Haruka again bowed politely. "I just wanted to talk to you about what's happened recently. I hope you don't mind."

"... Go on."

"I'm sorry I fell in love with your boyfriend. I-"

"_Ex_-boyfriend, thanks to _you_..."

"I know, Momomiya-san, and I'm sorry... but neither of us could help it. Being next door neighbours, we spent a lot of time getting to know each other... but we just got to know each other a little _too_ well, it seems." She paused for a moment. "He never wanted to hurt you. He spent a long time trying to prepare himself to break up with you." She smiled slightly. "He's far too soft at heart. You and I both know that. The thought of hurting you crushed him... but he really wanted to be with me... and _I_ really wanted to be with _him_."

Ichigo looked really annoyed now. "I _knew_ it! You two _did_ conspire to get me out of the way!"

Haruka blinked. "Huh?"

Ichigo pointed an accusing finger at her. "Don't play dumb! You said he spent ages working up the courage to break up with me! That means you two had been _plotting_ together! And let's not forget gym class, where you tried to sweeten me up _before_ he broke up with me!"

Haruka waved her hands around. "No, wait! I wasn't being conniving doing that! Honest!" She placed a hand on her heart. "I wanted us to be friends, so there'd be no hard feelings between us. Masaya-kun really loved you, so I wanted to-"

Ichigo suddenly looked murderous. "'Masaya-kun'? '_Masaya-kun_'? How dare you! Only _I_'ve ever been given permission to call him 'Masaya-kun'!" Her face was now bright red with fury. "How long have you been calling him that?"

Haruka suddenly felt very small. She fidgeted with her fingers. "Um... just under a year, I think..."

"A _year_? But you've only _known_ him a year!"

Haruka glanced in the other direction and back again. "Aheh.... yeah... we kind of made a deal a month after I met him... and, ever since, I've been calling him 'Masaya-kun'... It's a long story, Momomiya-san."

"... Get out of here."

Haruka felt surprised. "Huh?"

Ichigo thrust her arm into the distance. "Get out of here! Go away!" It was only now that Haruka noticed the tears streaming down Ichigo's face. "I never want to see you again, Kobayashi! And tell _Aoyama_ that I never want to _speak_ to him again!"

This declaration shocked Haruka so much that she couldn't speak; she'd just called Masaya 'Aoyama'... not 'Masaya-kun', like she'd always _known_ her to call him... or even 'Aoyama-kun', like all other girls at school called him... and, besides that, she'd told her to tell him that she never wanted to speak to him again... She could already see the pain of his crushed heart reflected in his eyes once she told him that...

"I-"

"Tell him never to approach me _in_ school, _out_ of school, or anywhere on this planet, for that matter, ever again! Now, _go away_!"

Ichigo moved off the window sill before slamming the window shut with such force that the glass vibrated loudly in its frame. Haruka jumped, her heart skipping several beats, as the very loud sound penetrated the quiet afternoon atmosphere.

"_Ichigo_!" she heard the woman yelling in a very angry tone. "Just what are you _doing_?"

Taking deep breaths and willing her heart to calm down, she walked away from Ichigo's house, feeling rather sad. _Wow... so __**that's**__ what she thinks of me? Cripes..._ She sighed. _Oh, well... I'd best go break the news to Masaya-kun..._ She cringed. _Ugh... this won't be pretty..._


	5. Starlight, Great Sword, Tiger Heart

Author's note: Hi! Wow. I've got way too many fics to update. It's gonna take forever to finish everything. Lol.

Oh and I've changed the name of Ichigo's high school from 'Daiken High School' to 'Toranokokoro High School'... and I made a mistake with the schooling system. Kids start Japanese high school at 15, so I'll alter it and have Ichigo be in her second year.

Lastly, 'hoshiraito' means 'starlight'... and the chapter title refers to the three places that Ichigo mentions in the chapter.

**Chapter Five****: Starlight, Great Sword, Tiger Heart**

Ichigo sat on the floor of her bedroom, dressed in her pink pyjamas and staring blankly at a yellow photo album in her hands; after everything that had happened to her in the past two days... Masaya dumping her for Haruka, _her_ running into and confiding in Ryou, Haruka trying to talk some sense into her... this album shouldn't have still meant anything to her. She should have thrown it in the trash as soon as Masaya had dumped her... but she couldn't; it was one of her most precious items... second only to the cat bell choker that was now lying on the floor at the other end of the room.

Her grip on the album tightened; she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to look inside. It held too many precious memories that now meant nothing. Her perfect fairy tale – that she had always imagined would end in a perfect white wedding, married to the world's most perfect man, before having his perfect children and living a perfect life – was no longer possible. If she looked inside, she would probably cry.

She also wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to go back to Ryou's house anymore; she was miserable and didn't know if she wanted any company. As soon as she'd arrived home from school, she'd gone straight to her bedroom and changed into her pyjamas. At that moment in time, she was very tempted to just sit on the floor all day, wallowing in her misery.

Bracing herself, she opened up the photo album, suddenly eager for the warmth of Masaya's past love for her. She craved to hold him again and feel the warmth and comfort of his body against hers... but all she had left of him now was this measly photo album. The first photo that she saw was the one from their very first date at the museum; they were twelve years old, sitting in a photo booth and smiling happily at the camera... and the photo was lined with a border of pandas.

Ichigo's heart twisted into more and more painful knots as she flipped through the pages; there were so many happy moments of them together captured on camera, most of which were taken either by Moe or Miwa using Moe's camera... and there were at least ten photographs for every season of every year. Her and Masaya licking ice cream cones together in the spring... her and Masaya lounging on the beach in swimwear in the summer... her and Masaya holding hands on a street covered in multi-coloured leaves in the autumn... her and Masaya building a snowman together in the winter... her and Masaya linking arms... Masaya tugging playfully at the red ribbon in her new single high ponytail while she giggled... her and Masaya dressed in kimonos at a festival, her in pink and him in blue... her and Masaya kissing on a park bench, following by several photographs of her blushing at the camera in embarrassment and charging angrily at Moe for secretly taking that photograph... her and Masaya at fifteen years old, wearing their brand new Toranokokoro High School uniforms and beaming proudly at the camera... her and Masaya kneeling at opposite sides of a table, doing homework together... her and Masaya at the zoo... her and Masaya queuing up to go on a rollercoaster... and the final photograph in the album was of her and Masaya at her sixteenth birthday party, him waving to the camera and her flashing a peace sign.

Anger and depression clouded her vision; all this was ruined! Ruined because of that damn Kobayashi Haruka! She'd gotten in the way of _everything_! Her life had been utterly perfect before _she'd_ come along! She pictured that average-looking, brown-haired, green-eyed girl and, enraged, threw the album to one side. It smacked into her dresser and landed open and upside-down on the floor.

She clutched her legs to her chest in misery, tears leaking down her face; life used to be so sweet... so simple... In her youth, she'd never had to worry about heartbreak, because everything she'd ever wanted had been right there in front of her... In fact, she could still remember with perfect clarity the two days in her life that had marked a turning point in her and Masaya's relationship: the days when the two of them had finally stopped calling each other 'Aoyama-kun' and 'Ichigo' and had, instead, begun to call each other 'Masaya-kun' and 'Ichigo-chan'...

* * *

_Ichigo felt content as she sat on a park bench, leaning her head on the shoulder of Masaya, her boyfriend of two years, and staring up at the beautiful purple-tinted sky. It was a romantic evening, the birds singing melodic tunes of courtship and the light breeze gently toying with her dark red pigtails. She and Masaya had just been on another wonderfully perfect date _–_ wandering around town hand-in-hand and walking at a very slow and relaxed pace _– _and the world, as usual, felt perfect._

"_Mmm... tonight was nice, wasn't it, Aoyama-kun?" she asked._

"_Yeah, it was," he replied._

_She snuggled closer to him. "What do you want to do _**_tomorrow_**_?"_

_He chuckled. "Ichigo... as much as I want to go somewhere tomorrow, don't you have homework to finish?"_

_A fleeting moment of panic grasped her heart, but she let it melt away. "Oh, yeah... Hmm... well, maybe we could do our homework together at _**_my_**_ house."_

_He chuckled again. "Silly girl... I've already done mine."_

_Ichigo spent a second pouting, then she smiled. "Well, could you help me with _**_mine_**_?"_

"_Sure."_

_She giggled, her face heating up in happiness. "Thank you, Aoyama-kun."_

_There was a slight pause. "Ichigo?"_

_She pulled away and looked up into his brown eyes. "Hmm?"_

"_I've been thinking about something for a while now..." He beamed kindly at her. "It simply isn't fair that I'm being so familiar with _**_you_**_ while you're still being so formal with _**_me_**_."_

_She blinked in confusion. "Huh?"_

_He leaned closer to her, causing her breath to catch in her throat and her heart to pound in her chest. "It _**_has_**_ been two years already... so I was wondering if, maybe... you could call me 'Masaya-kun' from now on?"_

"**_Eh_**_?" Her face exploded in a furious blush in her shock. "M... M... '_**_Masaya-kun_**_'?"_

_It took a minute for it to sink in... but, when it did, she felt like she'd died and gone to Heaven. She could feel herself floating on the clouds of a perfect fairytale wonderland; he wanted to be on first name terms with her! At that moment, she was the happiest girl alive._

* * *

_Four days after Masaya had asked Ichigo to call him 'Masaya-kun', instead of 'Aoyama-kun', the two of them had gone on another date. This time, they'd gone to the movies, where __they'd watched a delightfully romantic movie about two star-struck lovers finding their way back to each other after ten years. Ichigo was in yet another deliriously happy mood when the movie ended, so she was beaming at nothing as she and Masaya walked out of the theatre hand-in-hand._

"_Wow..." she said, "that movie was great. It was so touching, I even cried a bit."_

"_Aww, Ichigo..." Masaya replied, turning to her with a slightly sad look on his face, "don't be crying about some movie."_

_Ichigo laughed it off. "Oh, don't worry, Masaya-kun! I'm alright now. Anyway, they were _**_happy_**_ tears!"_

_Masaya paused a moment before smiling. "Well, okay." He gave her hand a light squeeze. "I just don't like knowing you're upset about something."_

_Ichigo, feeling herself float away on a cloud in her besotted state of mind, leaned into him and closed her eyes. "Oh, Masaya-kun..."_

_There was another pause. "Ichigo?"_

_She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Hmm?"_

"_I love how you call me 'Masaya-kun' now, you know."_

_Ichigo blushed, beaming at him. "You do?"_

"_Yeah... so, I, uh..."_

_She blinked in curiosity. "What?"_

"_Well, I've been thinking these past couple of days..." He blushed. "Since you're calling me 'Masaya-kun' now... would it be okay for me to call you 'Ichigo-chan'?"_

_Ichigo's heart stopped dead in her chest. Her legs immediately halted and her breathing became laboured. "I... I... I... _**_Ichigo-chan_**_?" She felt like she was about to faint. Convinced that this was a dream, she slapped herself across the face... which really hurt. She held her stinging cheek. "Ow..."_

_Masaya looked shocked. "Ichigo!" He suddenly looked worried and slightly hurt. "Why did you...? Are you okay?"_

_Ichigo felt dazed; she'd always dreamed of this day... the day when she would be calling him 'Masaya-kun' and he would be calling her 'Ichigo-chan'. She never thought it would come! But... it was finally here! She couldn't believe it. She was utterly speechless... and so overcome with emotion that she started crying again._

* * *

Ichigo rested her forehead on her knees and stared at the pink fabric of her pyjama pants; why did things have to turn out this way? Why did Kobayashi Haruka have to move next door to Masaya and seduce him the way she had? Why did she have to take her perfect life away from her? Were the heavens above openly mocking her? She'd asked herself those same questions over and over again all day and she still had no answer.

She heaved a deep sigh as she turned her head to the side, too depressed to bother wiping her sodden face; she'd followed Masaya _everywhere_... and had always known that she would follow him to the ends of the Earth, just to be with him, no matter what... and that had cost her much more than she'd ever imagined. As though it enjoyed rubbing her face in her misery, her mind suddenly began to play back those days, the days where her only care in the world was to be near Masaya, _wherever_ he went...

At the age of six, when she'd started at Hoshiraito Elementary, she'd met Aoyama Masaya for the very first time. She'd never paid much attention to him back then, seeing as he'd just been one of the crowd in her eyes. His charm, however, had managed to win him plenty of friends in a short space of time and he'd quickly become known all around for his sweet and gentle nature. Over the course of that year, he'd won even more attention from his classmates because of his continuous string of unbelievably good grades, as well as his modesty about said grades... which had marked him out not only as a smart and hard-working boy, but one with no trace of an ego. It was in the following year, when he'd been eight years old, that he'd begun taking part in several different sports, earning the attention of more and more students around the school. By the time he'd been ten years old, he'd decided that the sport he enjoyed the most was kendo, so that was what he'd primarily begun to focus on. By this point, he'd gathered an enormous female fan base, all of which had come to see him as the perfect boy. Even Moe and Miwa had had crushes on him, constantly gossiping to each other about how amazing he was and how he'd make the absolute perfect boyfriend.

Ichigo, nine years old at that point in time – since she'd not had her birthday yet – had been somewhat oblivious for a while, not truly understanding what all the fuss over one boy was about. However, later on that year, Masaya's popularity with the girls had skyrocketed so high, she couldn't help but give the matter some thought. She'd sat on her bed, recalling all the fairy tale movies that she'd seen in her childhood... all the handsome Prince Charmings falling in love with the beautiful princesses and every royal couple living happily ever after... and realised that her childhood dream to find her _own_ Prince Charming and live her own perfect happy ending was still as strong as it had been so many years ago. It hadn't taken long after that for her to realise that Masaya was very much the perfect image of a Prince Charming, causing her to become what she could best describe as an obsessive fangirl. By the end of that year, by which time she'd turned ten, Moe and Miwa had finally discovered how obsessed she was with Masaya. Both a) realising that they didn't like Masaya half as much as _she_ did and b) wanting to be supportive of their best friend, they'd both eventually pushed aside their crushes on him in order to leave him for Ichigo.

Two years after her obsession over Masaya had begun – Ichigo at that point in time being almost twelve years old – the sixth-graders had finally reached the end of their time in elementary school... and Masaya had announced that he was going to Daiken Junior High, the school that specialised in kendo and whose very name meant 'Great Sword' Junior High.

Ichigo scoffed, scowling slightly; she, like almost every other girl in their year, hadn't had any second thoughts about which junior high she'd wanted to go to. She'd been so obsessed, she'd have followed Masaya anywhere. She hadn't cared that the school specialised in kendo, all she'd cared about was being able to see Masaya's beautiful face, hear his beautiful voice... and watch him get fantastic grade after fantastic grade before beating down every opponent in his path in kendo. Once Moe and Miwa had deduced that they would not sway Ichigo from going to Daiken Junior High, they'd decided begrudgingly to follow her there, so that the three best friends wouldn't have to get separated.

Ichigo's mind, not wanting to recall the details of junior high, skipped forward in time to when she and Masaya were fifteen years old and still a happy couple. Masaya had announced to her a few months previously that he was planning to go to Toranokokoro High School, the high school known for being tougher on its students than any other high school in Tokyo – both physically and academically – and whose very name meant 'Tiger Heart' High School. She'd been a little intimidated by the prospect of going there, but, since he'd been determined by any means to go, she'd instantly decided to follow him, still determined to follow him everywhere he went like an obedient puppy. As for Moe and Miwa, they'd decided against arguing that time around and had simply followed Ichigo and Masaya to Toranokokoro High School.

Ichigo gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she felt a sudden desire to punch something; she'd spent a year slaving away in Toranokokoro High School, driving her mind to the brink of insanity just to be able to stay_ in_ the school. One major screw-up and they'd throw her out on her ear, no questions asked. She'd grown to hate the school so much, because it simply pushed her too hard most of the time. One of the only lessons that she felt she could relax in was gym. At least _there_, she was good enough at what she was expected to do to not die of exhaustion and migraines afterwards.

What _really_ boiled her blood, though, was what all of this blood, sweat and tears that she'd poured into staying at that school was actually worth. She'd done her best to be by Masaya's side until the end of the final year, struggling through the turmoil that is Toranokokoro High School, only for him to break up with her one month into their second year! How was that fair? She'd been getting excited over the thought of striking it lucky and getting the course of her choice in the same university as him! But, now, all of her hard work seemed to be for nothing!

Feeling tears pour down her cheeks yet again, she realised that she desperately needed some company; she felt so lonely and pathetic like this... yet who could she talk to? She didn't want to have to explain to Moe and Miwa that Masaya had broken up with her; they'd barrage her with questions and, worse still, shower her with pity... and she _really_ didn't want the pity. The other Mew Mews were out of the question; she didn't want to drag them away from their _own_ lives just to burden them with _her_ problems, like a selfish brat.

She lifted her head as she suddenly remembered Ryou; she'd already said that she was going to go round to his house tonight anyway, didn't she? So he'd be expecting her... so she wouldn't be bothering him or burdening him with her problems! She smiled slightly; and he wouldn't pity her either, because the guy had always possessed too much pride to pity anybody... at least outwardly! She nodded to herself; yes, she would get dressed and head to Ryou's house as planned. She was about to move when she suddenly remembered that she'd been crying. Lifting a hand and touching her wet cheek, she immediately felt that it was damp and sticky; okay, so she'd have to clean herself up first...

* * *

"Ichigo?" Sakura asked in a confused tone.

_Damn..._ Ichigo thought as she stepped away from the front door, _**almost** got away..._ She turned towards her mother, who was walking in from the kitchen, and plastered a falsely bright smile on her face. "Yes, Mom?" she replied.

"Where are you going?"

"Um..." _Aw, damn, I can't say I'm going to see Shirogane. For one, she doesn't know who he is... and, for another, although **she** won't mind so much, if **Dad** somehow found out..._ She held back a shudder. "I'm, uh... going to Moe's house!" _You idiot, you can't leave it at that! She'll get suspicious! Say something else!_ "Didn't I mention it?" _Oh, that's **good**. I made myself sound really innocent there. One gold star for **me**._

"Oh." Sakura smiled. "No, you didn't, you silly thing." She began walking towards the living room, but glanced at Ichigo over her shoulder. "Well, have fun! Your father's in the shower right now, so I'll tell him where you've gone when he comes back down."

"Okay, thanks, Mom!" _Yes! Home free! _She opened the door. "Bye!"

"Bye, Ichigo."

Ichigo quickly walked out, shut the door behind her and headed down the road, both happy and amazed that she'd gotten away with that so easily.

* * *

Finally, Ichigo had arrived back at Cafe Mew Mew, dressed in a yellow short-sleeved T-shirt, a matching yellow hair ribbon and a blue denim skirt that reached her knees. On any normal occasion, she'd have chosen a considerably shorter skirt – usually to impress Masaya, but also partly because she liked wearing short skirts – but she'd had a sneaking suspicion that Ryou would have only made fun of her again. She scowled at the memory, balling her fist in annoyance, and used that fist to knock on the door. She then lowered her arm and waited. A couple of moments later, she got bored, so she clasped her hands behind her back and started rocking back and forth on her feet. Finally, the door unlocked from the inside and opened to reveal a tall blonde boy.

He smiled at her. "Hey, Ichigo," he said pleasantly.

She pulled her hands apart, let her arms swing at her sides and smiled back, though it was considerably more forced than his was, since she was still rather depressed. "Hey, Shirogane," she replied.

Ryou shoved his hands in the pockets of his white jeans. "How are you feeling? You any better than yesterday?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Yeah, a little."

He nodded thoughtfully, then stepped aside to let her pass. She took him up on the offer and strolled past him into the pink interior of Cafe Mew Mew. As Ryou followed her inside and closed the door behind him, Ichigo gazed at her surroundings with interest. Yesterday, she'd, of course, seen how different the place looked now, but she'd been far too upset and depressed to care. Now that she was feeling slightly better – and not busy bawling her eyes out – she could appreciate how much nicer it looked. It no longer looked like a cafe, where waitresses served tea and cakes to a gathering of customers, but an actual person's home.

Instead of there being lots of white plastic tables – and a maximum of four white plastic chairs to each table – there was one of these tables near the front door with two chairs pulled up to it. Nearby, on the floor, there was a giant fluffy cream rug, which looked so comfortable that Ichigo was half-tempted to walk over and lie down on it. Averting her gaze, she looked at the other end of the room, where she saw a red sofa – which had a closed black laptop sitting on it – and a matching red armchair - which had a television remote sitting on it – facing the corner of the room, where there was a large television sitting on top of a second plastic table, which – unlike the first – had no chairs pulled up to it. Looking elsewhere in the room, Ichigo noticed that – in the small area that was separate from everywhere else and somewhat sectioned off – there was a large dark blue bean bag pushed up against the wall. Ichigo walked towards it to get a better look and noticed that, much like the sofa and armchair, the bean bag was facing a large television that was sitting on top of yet another table – which was pushed up against the opposite wall – with no chairs pulled up to it. However, _this_ table appeared to have several game consoles underneath it and several boxes of video games surrounding it.

"Ah..." Ryou chuckled. "I see you're snooping around my house."

Ichigo's pride suddenly perked up and she whirled to face him with a huff. "I... I was not snooping!"

Ryou rolled his eyes. "Yeah right." She was about to respond when he pointed his arm towards the bean bag. "That's the game area." Ichigo calmed herself down and looked where he was pointing. "I hang out over there when I wanna chill out and play one of my Nintendo consoles." He pointed his arm towards the sofa and armchair and she looked in that direction. "That's the TV area. I hang out over _there_ when, obviously, I wanna watch TV... _or_ when I wanna use my laptop." He chuckled. She looked back at him and saw that he now had both his hands on his hips and he was smirking at her. "Any questions?"

She pulled a face at his smug attitude, but her curiosity about Cafe Mew Mew's new layout made her drop it. She pointed to the rug. "Yeah, what's with the rug?"

"Oh, that. Well, I wanted to make the place look more homely, so I bought a rug. It really has no use except to make the place look less bare."

"Oh." She paused, then pointed to the table. "And why do you still have that cafe table?"

He chuckled again. "Well, duh... I use that as a dining table." He paused. "Or as a place to have a serious conversation with anyone who drops by."

Ichigo flinched at that, since that had been exactly what had happened with her yesterday. "Right..."

There was silence for a moment. "Anything else?"

Ichigo paused again to look around the room; it was certainly very different from how she remembered it... although it still didn't look very homely. She guessed that was because the room was far too spacious, so there wouldn't have been much that Ryou could have done with it.

Suddenly, a thought struck her about the place and she smirked. "Yeah, actually." She turned to face him. "Why haven't you made this place look a bit more... macho?" She watched his muscles tense and she smirked wider. "Unless, of course, you _like_ living in a house that's _pink_ with _heart-shaped_ chairs and windows..."

His jaw visibly clenched and she resisted the urge not to laugh at him. He cleared his throat and glanced away. "You know very well that this place might need to turn back into Cafe Mew Mew one day..."

"Yeah, I know... but why did you make it pink in the first place? You didn't _have_ to, did you? I mean, just because you were planning on hiring five girls to work as waitresses here..."

Ryou heaved a great sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, well... part of why Keiichirou and I painted it this colour was that we assumed you five would _like_ it more and feel happier to work here..."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, feeling curious. "Hmm?"

"And the other part..." He groaned. "We were sure that the awful colour would be enough of an eyesore to drive most people away..."

Ichigo froze, taking a moment to absorb this information, before she burst out laughing. She watched as Ryou folded his arms and blushed very slightly, which only made her laugh harder. "What... what made you think... that... the five... _waitresses_ would like it... but no other girl _would_?"

Ryou groaned again. "Okay, okay, I know... it was a stupid mistake to make."

"So, now, you're... you're stuck... living in a pink house!" She could feel herself going bright red in her hysteria.

Ryou gave a frustrated sigh, pausing only for a moment. "Yeah... you could say that." Ichigo doubled over in her laughter, finding the situation far too hilarious to be able to stop. She was just having trouble breathing when she heard Ryou walk away from her. "Just... go watch TV or something... and stop being a pest..."


End file.
